Four Thieves, One Jewel
by Darkened Skyes
Summary: Discontinued by me, but taken over by Youki Kagome.
1. the beginning of it all

Wow… so many people answered my question as to what Kuronue was… I just had to hurry up and type this story! Please enjoy!  
  
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Power… such a beautiful power… calling to all the demons of the land. Yet there were traps set up to keep the many weak creatures out. The guardian of this power wished for a challenge, not something so simple that it would vanish in the flick of a wrist. Unfortunately for the guardian, two of those such creatures would reach it at the same time.  
  
~some random village~  
  
"Hey Miryo? Do you hear that call too?" A young crow demon asked her friend. The crow was 6 feet, jet-black hair to mid-back, and shockingly blue eyes. Her friend was 5'11", hazel eyes, and also had black hair, cropped short. Furry black triangles poked out of Miryo's hair, informing anyone with a brain she was a kitsune.   
  
"Kagome…? Are you sure you're hearing a call?" The crow stretched onto her tiptoes, fingers brushing the ceiling with black wings spread out for balance. "Yeah… it's like the story of the Sirens… once you hear the call, you have to find the source of it or just turn into a loony." The two girls laughed at this. However, there was a distracted look in their eyes…  
  
~yet again, a random village~  
  
"Kuronue! You're going to ruin the floor!" Dark brown eyes glared at a silver haired, golden-eyed kitsune. "Yoko, you can't honestly tell me you don't feel the call too…" Sighing, Yoko tapped the talisman on Kuronue's chest. "I thought this thing shielded you from all magical influences." "It does, but this is way too strong for even my pendant. What do you say we go hunt down the source of it?"   
  
Yoko stretched, his 6 and a half feet nearly causing him to smack his head against the ceiling. "You outta be more careful, fox. Your height'll be the death of you." Kuronue teased his partner-in-crime. "Well, at least I have some height, shorty." Yoko bit back. Kuronue was still quite tall at 6 feet 4 inches. Changing the subject, Kuronue asked Yoko, "Shouldn't we get going if we want to beat all the lesser yokai to the prize?" "As if they had any chance of beating us from the start…" Yoko sneered.  
  
~A large bush maze chock full of traps~  
  
"Miryo, you better stay here… don't want you getting killed in there." Kagome begged her friend to stay away from the prize at the heart of the maze. "Don't tell me you're just gonna fly over it until you find the source…" "Now where would the fun be in that? I sense plenty of lower-class demons in there… it's gonna be a interesting trip." Kagome grinned animalistically before charging headfirst into the maze. Soon, the death cries of many demons could be heard, followed by some muttering of it being too easy.  
  
"Okay Yoko, you ARE staying outside of the maze, whether you like it or not." Miryo's head snapped up, wondering who was coming. She spotted two male demons, kitsune and raven by their scents, walking towards them. The kitsune's hair was silvery, down past his back, while his white clothes accented his golden eyes that were currently flashing with anger. The raven that was walking next to him had a tattered top hat (missing it's top ^_^;…) on his head, with blue-black hair in a high ponytail coming out of the hat. (I'll get a link in my profile somewhere for people who want to see him.) His dark brown, nearly black eyes were narrowed at the kitsune who Miryo had determined was Yoko. The group still hadn't noticed her. Sitting there patiently, she tapped her foot. "Yoko, stay here with this young lady," Kuronue winked at Miryo, "and wait for me to come out. And yes, I WILL be coming back, for your information."   
  
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Yay! First chapter of the new story up!!!!! A HUUUUGE thanks to Konada Mikari who told me what Kuronue meant. I was just gonna go with bat demon, but.. ya'll know the outcome! I think I might actually attempt to do review responses for each chapter… it's gonna be interesting. And this is the longest first chapter I've ever written, I think… it's gonna take me a while to type out the next chapter for any of my stories, cause my parents went crazy over my report card… Until Next Time!  
  
~~~Midnight Frost 


	2. to war we do go

Well, I decided to get out another chapter before it was a year... (4 months until then ;) I have discovered the wonders of trance music, so if this is a bit wonky, i blame the music i'm listening to right now. A note to Granvirias- you better fix the mistakes in this one! Microsoft word took a nosedive, (using notepad) so i'm depending on ya, ol' buddy ol' pal. Replies to some of the semi-complaints i have recieved will be responded to at the bottom! Well, here goes!  
  
Standing on the border of the Shikon maze, Youko Kurama admired the view. The bushes that created the form were very well kept... and the shirt that girl was wearing gave an even better view than the plants. Feeling a rather heated gaze on her, the black kitsune known as Miryo turned a dark-eyed glare upon the silver kitsune. "You do realize it's impolite to stare, I hope." The silver flashed a dazzling smile at her and swiftly replied, "Of course i realize that... but in the presence of such absolute beauty, how could I help myself?" With a semi-loud huff, Miryo slammed Youko into the ground before he could see the light blush staining her cheeks. With her tail gently waving back and forth, Miryo calmly walked away from the dazed and perverted kitsune; while he was enjoying a nice view up her skirt.  
  
-in the maze-  
  
"Hyaa!" With a graceful kick to the lizard youkai's head, Kagome grinned and continued to walk forward. Meanwhile, the lizard's head, which had been removed from its body, grew eight legs and began to scuttle towards Kagome. Hearing the shuffling noise, she turned around to see what it was... "Oh.... my... freakin'.... GAWD!" she screamed. After all, it isn't every day you see a bleeding, dismembered head grow legs and start chasing after you. Nope, certainly not. Muttering "ew...ew....ew...." the crow youkai stomped the... thing multiple times. Summoning up a ball of fire, Kagome burnt the twitching critter, just for good measure. Muttering curses under her breath about foul eight legged reanimated creatures, she didn't notice the box shaped hole in front of her, the almost-broken tree branch above her, or the wire that was getting ready to spring a trap. At the very last moment, she felt the wire against her skin, but alas, 'twas too late: with a loud crashing noise the tree branch fell on top of her as she stumbled...  
  
-in the maze, with Kuronue-  
  
(A/N: I have just realized that i know absolutely NOTHING about his attacks. What have i gotten myself into...? TT I s'pose i'll just base him off of Kagura... somewhat... ::gulp::)  
  
A flick of the wrist, a blast of wind later, and the several lower class youkai that had been attempting to stop him from his destination where gone. "Obviously controlled by the Shikon..." the raven youkai grumbled under his breath. True, he had been fighting the whispers from the jewel, but it was no difficult task for him whatsoever. However.. the rather large oni in front of him obviously had some difficulties. With an echoing roar, the uni-browed beast came charging at Kuronue. Crouching into the grass, he leaped onto the creature's shoulder. His wings gently settling back to his side, Kuronue pulled a feather off of his wing with a slight wince, and gently tickled it under its ear.   
  
A crude noise, possibly a laugh, issued from the oni's throat. "S-s-stop i-it!" It managed to giggle out, an extremely odd noise from such a menacing creature. Wincing at the harsh sound, Kuronue obliged the foul thi creature's shoulder. His wings gently settling back to his side, Kuronue pulled a feather off of his wing with a slight wince, and gently tickled it under its ear.   
  
A crude noise, possibly a laugh, issued from the oni's throat. "S-s-stop i-it!" It managed to giggle out, an extremely odd noise from such a menacing creature. Wincing at the harsh sound, Kuronue obliged the foul thing and ceased to tickle it. Instead, he willed his ki into the feather, urging it to grow thinner and longed, eventually turning it into a midnight hued blade. While the uni-browed one was still suffering from the giggles, the raven gracefully leaped onto its head, laid on his stomach so that his arms hung out over the oni's head, and stabbed the feather-turned-blade into its eye. Howling in pain, the beast stomped around the maze at an astonishingly fast pace, flinging its arms up and down, similar to a baby throwing a tantrum. A very large, ugly, uni-browed baby, that is. (a/n: Ha! Like the baby from the Simpsons! XD)  
  
Somersaulting off of the uniquely colored head, Kuronue landed with a flap of the wings about one hundred feet behind it. Focusing his gaze upon the oni, he realized that there were some rather large stitches covering a gash that extended from its back to slightly above its crude skirt. (a/n- I am NOT letting something like that run around nude, thank you kindly.) Holding a hand so it was lined up with the slowly healing gash, he allowed his power to flow into his palm, and released a blast at the stitches. Taking the form of a flock of ravens, they eagerly bit open the thick leather straps used as stitching. Rapidly falling onto the ground were odd little mechanic looking insects, coated in a sheen of sludge colored slime, which was apparently oni's blood.  
  
Kuronue watched in fascination as the 'insects' shriveled up and exploded in small puffs of black smoke as they hit the ground. Coming to the realization that this creature was never alive in the first place, and was only operational due to the machines inside of it, Kuronue leaped over the remaining pieces as the oni rapidly dissolved away.   
  
Continuing along the path, a loud crashing noise sounded a slight distance away. Allowing curiosity to overcome him, he headed in the direction of the sound, only to discover a tree branch covering a wide-eyed crow youkai, who had evidently stumbled into the box shaped pit.  
  
-outside the maze-  
  
Youko was willing that skirt to come just a bit closer as he slowly snuck towards the unsuspecting female. Fortunately, he was spared the trouble, as she had bent over to sniff at a rose bush blooming near a shade-providing tree. The black silk skirt she was wearing wasn't quite long enough to cover, well, anything as she sniffed. The beautiful scent of the rose managed to block out Youko's scent, although it would blend in a little, he hoped. He had a wonderful view of Miryo's underclothing as he was laying in the grass under a burning bush. (a/n- Those bushes that are green most of the time, and turn red in the fall...)   
  
Oh, how he wished her shirt was just a bit looser! However, before he could advance any deeper into his fantasy, the object of his, ah, fascination, turned around to admre the other plant life around her. She looked around at all of the different flora, until she spotted a flash of silver and white at the base of a green bush. (Lets just say it's spring...) Blushing furiously, and having no way to hide it this time, she called him out. "Youko Kurama! I would greatly appreciate it if you STOPPED TRYING TO GET A LOOK at something you'd never be able to see otherwise!" Golden eyes flashed in a way that Miryo realized meant she was in for it. She had just challenged a silver fox's charm, and had a lurking suspicion he wasn't going to give up until he proved her wrong.   
  
"And what will you reward me with if I can manage it, not against your will?"  
  
-Miryo's pov-  
  
'Oh no. WHY did I have to be such an idiot? Why?? Well, I might as well answer his question....'  
  
-author's pov-  
  
"It depends on what you're going to ask me for, of course!" Fortunately, Miryo was smart enough to NOT grant him anything he requested. God only knew how horny he was... ugh. A smirk slowly drifted onto Youko's face as he debated on what to ask of her.  
  
-back into the maze-  
  
Kagome's eyes were open quite wide after the tree branch falling on her, so it wasn't that difficult to notice the youkai standing a few feet away. "Um... hi?" Looking up at him, she realized that there was a large sweatdrop forming on his head and quickly sliding down. "A bit of help with this branch, just maybe?" Shaking himself out of his daze, Kuronue walked over to her and hefted the branch off the ground and tossed it backwards. Springing out of the depression in the ground, the crow youkai happily hugged Kuronue, causing him to blink in surprise. The only other person who hugged him was Youko, and that was only because he ebjoyed flustering the poor raven. There was also the fact that Youko had a nymphomania for anything he considered beautiful...  
  
Realizing what exactly she had glomped onto, Kagome hurriedly released him and bowed while apologizing. "Ah! I'm so sorry! I was just so relieved to get out of that pit..." Now that they could both look the other over, Kagome gaped at his top hat, which was missing part of its top. Since there was nothing remarkable about her fighting outfit, Kuronue just gaped at her body in general.  
  
Skye's Blah Blah  
  
For the MANY people who have complained about me getting Kuronue's... breed (?) wrong, if you had read the note at the bottom of the first chapter, it said that i went by a TRANSLATION of his name. The two different definitions that i had recieved were a raven or a crane, and since one of the people who said raven mentioned that they were always being outshone by something else in japanese mythology (or something similar, i can't remember exactly), i went for that one. It made sense, since you hear nothing about Kuronue until the YYH movie. If you still want to argue, email me at Just... don't flame. Although i do have marshmallows that need a fire =9.   
  
review replies---  
  
vamp18- see note above... and thanks for the encouragement   
  
hells angel- again see above... and thanks for reviewing! things like that give me incentive to keep writing, even if it does take a while... heh...  
  
paleah- yay! no complaints of kuronue! thanks muches for the review! -  
  
boaboa679- i love kurama/youko/shuuichixkagome fics too... he needs to squish his name into, well, one name though... it'd be appreciated... lol  
  
cutie-pie-2101-1012- ==  
  
sesshomaru's goddess- like the penname from what i've seen, there's the americanized way (yoko) and the more japanese way (youko) i've come to realize that i bounce between the two, but i'll try and stick with youko from here on out.  
  
cold-hearted nightfox- confused about what? i'll do my best to clear it up for you... i just hope it isn't the whole story in general! ;  
  
anonymous- thanks for the review, and here be the update!  
  
fire kitsune goddess- thankees muchees for the review!  
  
kireishi-chan- well, it isn't soon, exactly, but i did update   
  
lugia-mew- it's a kag/kuronue, the only one that i know of too. i try to be original every once in a while   
  
cursed mist- yes yes yes.. kuronue's one sexy little demon i must agree!  
  
kagome the fox demon- i love this story too, but it's being stubborn on giving me ideas for it   
  
katzztar- yeah, that's usually the way things go... ::sigh:: but i am doing my best to put kuro-kun in the spotlight!  
  
konada mikari- thanks for the thanks for the thanks... eh i'll stick with you're welcome ;;. hopefully this chapter is long enough to make up a little but for the wait, although that's highly doubtful.  
  
death phoenix- yep, them's the pairings... and i can hear my editor wailing over the poor grammar i use in author's notes! mwa ha ha... i'm VERY sorry for the wait between update times...  
  
kurama is mine forever- well, i do try my best to make my stories interesting... eventually...  
  
bloodroseotdemon- yay! my first reviewer! ::glomps:: again, sorry for the wait. U.U i'll try to write the next chapter sooner, but i am having a busy summer (curse you parents! and road trips...), so i'll try to have another chapter out by next month. ;  
  
Granvirias's babbling: You're getting a lot better, Skye, but now you're stealing my big words. You wouldn't even know how to pronounce "nymphomania" without me around. I didn't have to make many changes at all, though. t's great compared to some of the crap I've read. Anyway, I only have one thing to say to you about grammar. WOULD IT KILL YOU TO USE CAPITAL LETTERS?!? That's all for now. I look forward to the next chapter! 


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